Every January the Church commemorates an event which proved a turning point in the history of Christendom: this is the feast day which celebrates the conversion of Saint Paul on his celebrated journey to Damascus - the first of three notable conversions in the history of the Church, which have had a powerful and lasting effect on the Church’s life and development. For each of them call was a distinct experience but closely connected with the actual moment or time of conversion. The other two are those of Augustine in the fourth century and of John Henry Newman in the nineteenth century. Unlike Paul’s conversion, those of Augustine and Newman were not sudden, but rather the result of years of study, reflection and soul-searching, a truly spiritual struggle before coming to the point where they were ready to accept the grace of faith in a new, deeper, compelling understanding of Christianity..

For Paul both call and conversion coincided. When he heard the voice issuing from a blinding light, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?, his acceptance of Jesus was immediate, and his particular mission to be Apostle of the Gentiles revealed to him after being baptized by Ananias. For this apostolate, he was admirably fitted - by birth, by culture, by temperament - to make the missionary journeys to important centers of the Roman world and through his epistles to sustain, solidify and perpetuate the church to which he now dedicated his life. Paul’s sudden conversion has been the subject of numerous paintings, one of which can help us to grasp the complexity of the event and its significance for Paul and for the Church.

Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Paul III to execute a fresco in the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican, showing Paul, on his way to persecute the disciples of Jesus in Damascus. He is being addressed by Jesus, looking down from heaven and flanked by a crowd of angelic figures, at the very moment at which he, Paul, has been thrown to the ground from his horse, with a beam of light shining on his face, blinded and helpless, totally dependent on his companions. His face should have been that of a young man. Instead, the artist has paid his patron. Pope Paul III, the compliment of portraying him as the apostle, with the face of an old man. Saul, the Pharisee, is being converted from the old covenant to the fresh, youthful faith of Christianity, taking on a new life with a new purpose: to bring others to the knowledge and practice of belief in Jesus. Saul, henceforth to be known by the Gentile name Paul, is the only person depicted with a horse, perhaps to emphasize his status and to contrast the prostrate figure with the now useless horse. Most portrayals of this event show horses involved, whereas the scriptural accounts make no mention of them. Marching by foot was a common practice in the ancient world, but a fall from a horse introduces drama and action into the event. All the attention is focused on the central scene: the encounter of the helpless Paul on the ground contrasted with the majestic Jesus making a gesture of blessing and concern from the sky. The angels above direct their attention to Jesus in worship, while the bewildered soldiers below are filled with amazement and consternation at what has taken place so unexpectedly.

As we view this painting of an event of profound spiritual importance , we share the need to experience a deeper commitment to the Way of Jesus, learning from Paul’s spectacular call to undergo the change of heart and soul that can transform us from passive followers into active, committed disciples of Jesus, within the context of our daily commonplace lives. We realize that Paul’s blindness to the truth is only temporary, a way of teaching him that he must die to his old self and manner of thought and be reborn through baptism after three days of a symbolic death like that of Jesus. This powerful scene of Paul’s call and conversion is a reminder that we too must proclaim the Word and preach the Gospel, not through missionary journeys and writing spiritual treatises, but through the humbler, ordinary manner of living which will manifest us as true witnesses to our belief in the Way to which Paul, the convert, dedicated his life.

St Paul, Apostle of the Lord - Pray for us!

(This article is taken from one of the reflections of Fr. Damian Kearney (b.1928 - d.2016)